Parishes: Caldbeck - Carlatton

Caldbeck

CALDBECK, in the ward of Allerdale below Derwent, lies about 15 miles from Penrith, and one and a half from the small market-town of HesketNewmarket, which is in the parish. Caldbeck contains three townships, called Highgrave-quarter, Lowgrave-quarter, and Half-cliff, or Haltcliffe quarter. The whole parish contained in 1811, 315 houses, and 1436 inhabitants.

The lords of Allerdale possessed the whole lordship of Caldbeck till Henry, the sixth Earl of Northumberland, gave it to King Henry VIII. who granted Caldbeck Upper-town to Thomas Dalston, Esq. and Caldbeck Underfell to Thomas Lord Wharton. The latter soon afterwards became possessed of the whole. Charles, Duke of Somcrset, having purchased it of the Duke of Wharton's trustees, it became re-united to the barony of Allerdale, and is now the property of the Earl of Egremont.

The manor of Hesket, in the township of Haltcliff, is a mesne manor within that of the Earl of Egremont. The heiress of William Beauly, or Bewley, Esq. whose ancestors possessed it for many generations (fn. n1), brought it in the reign of Charles I. to the Lawsons. It is now under the will of the late Sir Wilfred Lawson, Bart. the property of Wilfred, a younger son of Thomas Wybergh, Esq. who has assumed the name of Lawson. The manor house, built by Sir Wilfred Lawson, the first baronet, is a singular structure, with twelve angles, so contrived, that the shadows give the hour of the day, with a circular roof, the chimneys running up in the centre: this house is now occupied by the tenant of the farm. Within this manor is the small town of Hesket-Newmarket, which has a weekly market for butchers meat and other provisions, on Friday, and fairs or great markets for cattle every other Friday, from May 1, to Whitsuntide. The first Friday in May is a great fair for cattle, cloth, hats, &c.

The manors of Mossdale and Swinside, which belonged anciently to the baronial family of Dacre, and passed by female heirs, with the title, to the families of Fiennes and Lennard, were sold by the co-heiresses of Thomas, Earl of Sussex, to Sir Christopher Musgrave, Bart. of Edenhall, and by him to Edward Hasell of Dalemain, ancestor of Edward Hasell, Esq. the present proprietor.

Woodhall, in this parish, has been for many generations the property and residence of a younger branch of the Bewley family. Mr. George Bewley is the present proprietor. At Brownrigg was seated a branch of the family of Vaux, now extinct. Mr. Robert Vaux, who died in 1747, is said to have been the fourteenth in succession of that name. There are some tomb-stones in memory of this family in the church-yard.

Ralph Engayne, chief forester of Inglewood, is said to have built an hospital at Caldbeck, for the protection and accommodation of travellers, soon after the conquest, by permission of the prior of Carlisle. Gospatric, son of Orme, gave the church of Caldbeck, with its appurtenances, and the hospital, to the prior and convent. It is said, that after this they dissolved the hospital, and endowed the church with the lands, about the time of King John; and that these lands constituted the manor of Kirkland, which now belongs to the rectory. Bartholomew, prior of Carlisle in the reign of Henry III. gave the advowson of the rectory of Caldbeck to the Bishop of Carlisle, and it has been ever since in the patronage of that see. Caldbeck is in the diocese of Carlisle and in the deanery of Wigton. There are three quakers meeting houses in this parish.

Philip Lord Wharton, in 1692, appropriated by deed certain lands in Yorkshire, as a perpetual fund for buying yearly 1060 bibles, sixteen of which are appointed to be given to this parish. There was a fund of 103l. raised by subscription in 1647, as a school-stock, but the greater part of it having been lost, there remains now only 47l.

Camerton

CAMERTON, in the ward of Allerdale below Derwent, lies about two miles and a half from Workington, and five from Maryport. It has two townships, Camerton and Seaton, which in 1811 contained together 183 houses, and 811 inhabitants.

The manors of Camerton and Seaton were given by Waldieve, Lord of Allerdale, to Orme, son of Ketel, in marriage with his sister Gunilda. The posterity of Orme took the name of Camerton, and afterwards that of Culwen or Curwen (fn. n2), and were immediate ancestors of the family of Curwen, of Workington Hall. The manor of Camerton is now the property of Ralph Cook, Esq.: the manor of Seaton belongs to the Earl of Lonsdale, having been purchased, by the late Earl, of Charles Pelham, Esq. who possessed it by bequest from the Curwen family. The Curwens at an early period resided at Seaton. Patrick de Culwen is said to have pulled down the mansion at Seaton, and to have removed to Workington about the latter end of the twelfth century. It is certain, nevertheless, that Thomas de Culwen, in 1279, procured a charter for a market at Seaton on Thursday, and a fair for three days at the festival of St. Peter, ad vincula (fn. n3). There are still traces of the old mansion at Seaton; there was a mansion also at Camerton, of which the base of a tower still remains, converted into stables.

Gospatric, son of Orme, gave the church of Camerton, which is in the diocese of Carlisle and in the deanery of Wigton, to the priory of Carlisle. The prior and convent took all the tithes and employed a curate. The tithes are now vested in the dean and chapter, under whom the Earl of Lonsdale is lessee. The curacy, which has been augmented by Queen Anne's bounty, is in the gift of the chapter.

The chapelry of Flimby has been sometimes esteemed extra-parochial, and sometimes a separate parish. It is called a parish in the Population Abstract of 1811, when it contained 74 houses and 271 inhabitants.

The manor of Flimby, with the chapel, was given by Gospatric to the abbot and convent of Holme-Cultram. After the dissolution this estate was granted to Thomas Dalston, Esq. who, in 1547, conveyed it to John Blenerhasset, Esq. Flimby continued to be the property, and the hall the residence of that family, till the estate was sold by William Blenerhasset, Esq. in 1772, to Sir James Lowther, Bart. The royalties are now vested in the freeholders; the demesne and hall are the property of the Earl of Lonsdale; the latter is in the occupation of Mr. Robert Addison. The chapel, which is in Lord Lonsdale's patronage, has been thrice augmented by Queen Anne's bounty. The inhabitants, till of late years, buried their dead at the mother-church of Camerton.

Cross-Canonby

CROSS-CANONBY, in the ward of Allerdale below Derwent, comprises three townships, Birkby and Canonby, Crosby, and Netherhall; and in 1811 (fn. n4) the whole parish contained 774 families and 3,479 inhabitants. The village in which the church is situated has been called Little-Crossby, Crossby-Canon, Crossby-Canonby, Cross-Canonby, and sometimes Canonby only. It lies about half a mile from the sea; three miles from Maryport, which is in the parish, and is the post-office town, and nine from Workington.

The manor of Crosby, or Cross-Canonby, belonged to the Lords of Allerdale till Henry, the sixth Earl of Northumberland, gave it to King Henry VIII. It was granted by the Crown to the Highmore family; and having been alienated by them to the Porters, was, by a descendant of the latter, enfranchised and sold to the tenants.

The manor of Birkby is still parcel of the lordship of Allerdale, belonging to the Earl of Egremont. The dean and chapter of Carlisle have a manor here, given to the priory with the church by Alan, second lord of Allerdale: this is annexed to, or is now deemed to form part of, their manor of Lorton. In the parish church of Cross-Canonby are several monuments of the Senhouse family (fn. n5). Alan, second Lord of Allerdale, gave the church of CrossCanonby to the prior and convent of Carlisle. The rectory now belongs to the dean and chapter, who appoint a perpetual curate. The church is in the diocese of Carlisle and deanery of Wigton.

The manor of Ellenborough or Netherhall, formerly called Alneburgh (fn. n6), was at a very early period possessed by Simon de Sheftling, in whose family it continued till the reign of Edward I. when it was purchased by the Eglesfields. In the reign of Henry VIII. a coheiress of Eglesfield brought it to John Senhouse, Esq. of Seascales, at which place the ancestors of this ancient family had been settled for several generations. A younger son of this John settled at Netherhall, now the property and residence of his immediate descendant, Humphrey Senhouse, Esq. John Senhouse, the founder of the Netherhall branch, is spoken of by Camden as having made the collection of Roman antiquities at this place. That learned writer and his friend Sir Robert Cotton, the collector of the Cottonian library, were hospitably entertained by Mr. Senhouse at Netherhall in 1599. Richard Senhouse, one of his younger sons, was made Bishop of Carlisle in 1624. There is a small deer-paddock at Netherhall.

The town of Maryport, in the district of Netherhall, has of late years become very populous. Till the year 1750 there was only one house at Ellen-foot (fn. n7), the present site of the town of Maryport. The town owed its origin to the exertions of the late Mr. Senhouse's father, who called it Maryport in compliment to his wife. Mr. Pennant, writing in 1774, says, that there were then above 100 houses at Maryport. In Nicolson and Burn's History, published in 1777, the number of families is stated at about 340; the number of families in 1811 is stated at 709; the inhabitants, exclusively of seamen (fn. n8), at 3,134 (fn. n9). It is said, that in 1777 there were between 70 and 80 sail of shipping at this port from 30 to 250 tons burden. There are now about 100, their average burden being about 135 tons. The chief trade consists in the exportation of coals to Ireland from the neighbouring collieries. Timber, flax, and iron, are imported from the Baltic. There are three ship-building yards, and every kind of trade and manufacture connected with it. There is a considerable herring-fishery, which was remarkably productive in 1813 and 1814 (fn. n10). About 20 boats are employed in it at Maryport. Cod-fish are caught in great abundance in the winter-season, and salmon-trout in the river Ellen in the summer. There is a considerable market at this place for butchers'-meat and all sorts of provisions on Friday, and a smaller market on Tuesday.

A chapel was built at Maryport in 1760, and consecrated by Bishop Lyttelton in 1763. In this chapel is the monument of Humphrey Senhouse, Esq. founder of the town of Maryport, who died in 1770. In the chapel-yard are some curious inscriptions, which will be found under the head of Longevity in the General History. The chapel of Maryport has been augmented by Queen Anne's bounty. Humphrey Senhouse, Esq. whose grandfather gave the sum of 200l. towards procuring it, is the patron. There are meeting-houses at Maryport for the presbyterians, quakers, and for the Wesleyan methodists.

Carlatton

CARLATTON, a depopulated parish in the ward of Eskdale, contained in 1811 only 7 houses and 35 inhabitants. The manor was held in the reign of Henry II. by Gospatric, son of Macbenk or Macbenock. King John made a temporary grant of it to Robert de Ross; King Henry III. resumed this grant, and gave it to the King of Scotland. After the revolt of John Baliol, it was held for a while by Anthony Bec, Bishop of Durham. King Richard II. granted it to Ralph Nevill, Earl of Westmorland, from whom it descended to Richard Earl of Warwick, who was slain at the battle of Barnet. King Edward IV. gave it to his brother the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III. It has since been held on lease under the Crown, the Earl of Carlisle being the present lessee.

The church of Carlatton was given by Robert de Vaux to the priory of Lanercost, and appropriated to that monastery. The tithes are now held on lease under the Crown, with the manor. The church is supposed to have been dilapidated long before the Reformation. There is no institution of a vicar on record after the year 1380. There are no ruins remaining of the building, and it is only known by tradition where it stood.